The theme park calendar says it’s spooky season! Halloween at Disney Parks gets longer every year and Disneyland is no exception but who is actually mad about a little more Pumpkin Mickey in your life? This year, Halloween season officially started on August 21st and will last through October. There are a number of differences in the parks during these autumn months including decorations, ride overlays, entertainment and specialty food items. In this post, we’ll cover Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort.

Before getting into the specific offerings, I’ll start with a few broader thoughts on visiting Disneyland during this season. While there’s no beating Christmas season at the Disney Parks, Halloween Time has grown in popularity on both coasts. That makes sense, especially at Disneyland Resort. With a broad local base, guests are always looking for things out of the norm and Halloween Time offers plenty of that.

While Disney Parks have been known for an upcharge or two (or five), credit to Disneyland Resort for offering nearly everything in this guide during normal park hours. The exception is Oogie Boogie Bash at California Adventure, which is a hard ticket event on select nights throughout the season. We won’t cover that in this post as we have several dedicated to it already, including our review linked above and our itinerary linked here. On nights with the party, California Adventure closes at 6 PM to day guests and Disneyland is typically more crowded. With that in mind, we recommend Park Hopper tickets during this season!

Overall, visiting Disneyland during September and October (and late August, if you can stand the heat) is a wonderful time. There are extra things to see and do in both parks along with all of the classics. I’d put the seasonal enhancements made at this resort on par with any around the world. Let’s get to the specifics!

Decorations

The biggest difference in the resort that is impossible not to notice is all of the decorations throughout the parks. Starting in Disneyland, you’ll walk into the crown jewel of Halloween decorations – Pumpkin Mickey! He sits in the middle of Town Square on Main Street and is surprisingly large. There are orange flowers around the area to make him fit in even more! Don’t miss out on seeing Pumpkin Mickey at night when he’s lit up in all of his glory.

There are pumpkins all down Main Street and more character pumpkins on Disneyland’s gate. This is the most decorated area in Disneyland with orange bunting and a number of jack-o-lanterns carved with different faces to make them fit into their respective storefronts. Spending some time in the area and enjoying the decorations is a lovely way to spend half an hour or so. There’s plenty of special Halloween merchandise available in those shops!

Elsewhere in Disneyland, the Haunted Mansion is decorated for its overlay which we will get to later in this post. Near Rancho del Zocalo, there’s a celebration of Dia de los Muertos with skeletons dressed up as a mariachi trio to go along with colorful flowers. It’s a nice area to explore and the colors are especially vibrant at night. Don’t miss the Halloween Tree in that same area!

In California Adventure, Buena Vista Street is decked out with purple lit trees, Oogie Boogie projections on Carthay Circle and Halloween inspired décor down the street. All of it is spookily beautiful, especially the trees. Don’t miss the windows going down the street depicting Mickey Mouse in some eerie situations.

Cars Land also gets into the fun with its Haul-O-Ween celebration. While the decorations are up during the day, they’re augmented by the usual nighttime neon. The cones have faces, there are car spiders and other visual treats throughout the land. All of those special decorations completely fit in with the goofy, yet enveloping, atmosphere that Cars Land already emits.

Finally, in Paradise Gardens Park there is the Plaza de la Familia. This area celebrates the Pixar film, Coco, including a number of decorations like the Tree of Life where guests can design their own paper alebrije masks of Dante and Pepita, spirit guides from Coco.

The giant bear at Grizzly River Run has a trick-or-treat bucket and that’s worthy of having its own paragraph.

Downtown Disney also has a few decorations, including Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit. Guests can search for pumpkins with unique Disney designs throughout Disneyland, California Adventure, and Downtown Disney with this scavenger hunt! Purchase a special activity map from retail locations throughout the resort to aid in your search, then redeem it for a keepsake prize. Separate park admission is required to participate.

Ride Overlays

One of the most exciting aspects of Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort are the ride overlays! There are four in total, with one at Disneyland and three in Disney California Adventure.

The best of these, in my humble opinion, is Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Holiday. While we adore the classic Haunted Mansion, this overlay puts the characters from Nightmare Before Christmas inside of the hallowed walls. The entire ride is a romp and an absolute blast to go on. The colors are more vibrant than the usual attraction and who doesn’t want to see Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie and the rest of the gang hanging out with some pumpkin ghosts. I don’t want to give too much away but this is the best ride overlay Disney has ever done, making it a favorite among locals.

Moving over to DCA, Cars Land sees two attractions transformed for Halloween. We’ll start with Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree transformed to Mater’s Graveyard Jamboree. The décor is the main thing to change around the ride but there’s also a Halloween song sung by the lovable character himself! Similarly, Luigi’s Honkin’ Haul-O-Ween changes out its song and adds some special décor. No, these aren’t big changes but a change of pace to add to the atmosphere. Also, if you were expecting something crazy from Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters then you need to get your priorities straight!

Lastly, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! is transformed every night into Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark. This overlay has guests helping the Guardians rescuing Groot from crazed creatures. Unlike the other overlays, this one is only available in the evening. Check the Disneyland app to see when it begins each afternoon/evening.

Character Meets & Entertainment

With Halloween Time in full bloom special characters will be out and about, while some regulars will be in special costumes. Jack Skellington and Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas) will meet guests from the second level of the Haunted Mansion. They do look great up there! Over in DCA, Miguel (Coco) meets guests in the Plaza de la Familia.

Other typical characters are out and about but wearing their own Halloween costumes! All of the Fab Five can be found in Disneyland wearing costumes on Main Street. Donald is especially looking good! In California Adventure, Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater are in their own Halloween gear. All in all, these make for some fun character greetings!

While we don’t have as much entertainment as usual, both parks are offering a special show. In Disneyland, that’s Halloween Screams, a nighttime spectacular that’s played on and above the castle at night. The pyro only happens on the weekends but the projections alone are worth seeing if you don’t end up there on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Back in DCA’s Plaza de la Familia, let the music move you during “The Storytellers of Plaza de la Familia Celebrate the Musical World of Coco!” as a traveling troupe of storytellers bring songs like “Remember Me” and “The World Es Mi Familia” to life. You’ll also be able to sing and dance along to live mariachi music at the Paradise Garden Bandstand.

The Downtown Disney LIVE! stage and lawn will host movie nights on select evenings with screenings of beloved fall flicks, or you may catch a live musical performance taking the stage.

Food

There’s a number of specialty food items offered throughout Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney. In fact, there’s so much that we can’t even make a dent in all that’s offered in this post. Instead, check out this post to see the year’s Halloween menus.

Around the Disneyland Resort Hotels

Ghastly ornamentation will add to the spirit of the season at all the Hotels of the Disneyland Resort, including all-new decor inspired by Disney and Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. at Pixar Place Hotel and Haunted Mansion-inspired touches at Disneyland Hotel.

The culinary teams are even cooking up confounding confection displays for Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and Disneyland Hotel.

Speaking of treats, you won’t want to miss seasonal character dining options if you want to enjoy a bite to eat and special interactions with characters all at once. Keep an eye on Disneyland.com for reservation availability later this summer.

Storytellers Cafe at Disney’s Grand Californian will host Mickey’s Autumn Adventures for breakfast and brunch and Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner in the evenings. At Disneyland Hotel, Goofy’s Kitchen Celebrates Halloween will offer fun-filled dining throughout the day.

Plus, adults 21 years and over may enjoy a Halloween-themed cocktail menu at Broken Spell Lounge in Disneyland Hotel.

For an additional cost, a talented team of Disney stylists at Tenaya Stone Spa in Disney’s Grand Californian can tailor a Halloween look with hair, makeup, or nails inspired by favorite Disney characters, or you can indulge in a seasonal service like the Wicked to the Core foot treatment.

We highly recommend Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort, it’s an excellent time to visit with some very exciting and fun additions to the park!

Have you been to Disneyland Resort during Halloween season? Let us know your thoughts, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! If you are planning a trip to Disneyland, then check out our planning guide. You can find discount tickets to the parks through this link. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages.  You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email.  You can do all of that on the right side of this page.  Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!